Zimbabwe Teachers Give Harare Two Weeks Notice Of Strike

The Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe has given the government 14 days notice that its members will go out on strike if the government fails to raise teachers’ pay to a minimum of Z$3 million a month, or about US$850.

Harare has just raised civil service salaries 300%, taking the minimum teacher salary to a monthly $84,000, or some US$24 at the parallel currency exchange rate. But teachers say this is a paltry level of compensation given the cost of living.

Zimbabwe consumer inflation reached 1,181% in December, and the cost of some essential commodities has been doubling month by month.

The teachers also want to be excused from paying school fees for their dependents, demanding the same benefit that war veterans already receive.

PTUZ General Secretary Raymond Majongwe told reporter Jonga Kandemiiri of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that his union working in unison with other teachers unions.